Robert Kraig, executive director ofCitizen Action, told me that WEDC’s records aren’t terribly transparent. Theyhad to comb through rather opaque publicly available agenda and meeting minutesto find what they were looking for. And what they found was, well, not much:

Companies that receive WEDC grants,loans or tax credits have to give a 30-day notice after laying off employees.

New WEDC contracts require companies tonot use WEDC funds directly on outsourcing. But as Kraig explained, that doesn’tmean that these companies can’t outsource while receiving WEDC’s taxpayermoney. It just means that they can shuffling around the funds to that they cando both at the same time.

"WEDC spokesman Mark Maley wrote in an emailedstatement that the agency has put new language in contracts for companies thatget loans or tax credits barring them from using any WEDC money to outsourcejobs. He declined to confirm whether that restriction prevents companiesfrom offsetting outsourcing they may do, by using WEDC grants to create jobs inWisconsin."

Even worse, Citizen Action turned up an evenbigger loophole. During the first budget cycle in Walker’s term, the GOPLegislature created huge new, multimillion-dollar tax credits for manufacturers with no accountability measures. (Here’s my take onit when it happened.) Citizen Action found that manufacturers can still claimthese tax credits while outsourcing. You’ve got that right: Manufacturers canplay it both ways. Send jobs elsewhere while getting tax perks simply forstaying in the state.

I’ll update this story as I get more information.

Since job creation is a central issue in thegubernatorial campaign, it’s sort of startling that the state’s largest mediacompany is taking a pass on this. Perhaps they’re too busy closing ranks aroundWalker to help his re-election bid. Another Journal Sentinel fail, if you askme.

Tags

Comments (4)

Hey everybody, my answering machine in Waukesha Co...

Hey everybody, my answering machine in Waukesha County was full of Republican messages, scaring all of us "presumed" Republicans with news that Democrats are turning out more than expected!!! If the GOP is scared that Mary Burke just might win, then Democrats really DO have a chance of beating Scott Walker...This means that you Democrat readers need to get out and vote!!Get out to vote and make sure Walker's followers don't steal it away.Democrats are generally not likely to turn out for anything but a presidential election, this is why it is most important to get out the Democratic vote TODAY.I remember a similar moment in the 2003 movie "Head of State" starring Chris Rock, where at last minute, it was announced on the West coast, which closes its polls 3 hours later than the east coast, that "it looks like a black man is going to win the presidency!", and proceeded to have masses of California housing development white folk rushing out of their homes and run down the street in panic. -- Well, Mary Burke is white, and she is blonde. Definitely cuts a good SE Wisconsin image of the right kind of person to have in the Governor's mansion.We need to vote out "the son of a Baptist minister", all of Catholics and Lutherans need to vote too, plus secular humanists, atheists, (and wiccans).

WaukeshaGuymore than 4 years ago

We should drug test all the business owners who re...

We should drug test all the business owners who receive corporate welfare from Scott Walker courtesy of Wisconsin taxpayers. Corporate welfare costs Wisconsin taxpayers 200 times more than social welfare.We need a complete list of all the business owners in Wisconsin who receive corporate welfare. Let's see if they are truly creating jobs for the citizens of Wisconsin. If not, let's kick them off the welfare role.

moochymore than 4 years ago

The only jobs created during the Walker disaster y...

The only jobs created during the Walker disaster years were part time minimum wage jobs.Wisconsin would have been better off if we had elected a cow pie instead of Walker. The fecal matter wouldn't have turned away the hundreds of billions of Federal dollars that the other 49 States received.

moochymore than 4 years ago

The company I do most of my business with took a p...

The company I do most of my business with took a payout from WEDC, and they are out-sourcing other plants of theirs to Mexico. They were allowed the pay-out for investing in a plant that still is in Waukesha County. BUT, the investment is to automate the plant more, so it can lay off more skilled people and take advantage of a lower pay-class to do material handling instead of skilled crafts.The 2010-2013 "recovery" in Wisconsin is objectively exposed in a paper by UWM professor Marc Levine, download it here...http://www4.uwm.edu/ced/pub...(or http uwm edu thingy +) ced/publications/low-wage-wisconsin.pdf)Article title is: "Is Wisconsin Becoming a Low-­Wage Economy?"Revealed inside the 12-page article are some clear charts and tables that show that Wisconsin's "job recovery" under Scott Walker is no more than a conversion of mid-pay (above $12.50/hr) jobs to low pay jobs, 2/3 of which are less than $10/hour. The recovery still has a loss of high-wage jobs paying over $25/hour being knocked down.Levine shows that the "post 2007 recession" (due to the sub-prime crash, not Doyle), the recession lost lost 7,000 high-wage jobs and 121,000 mid-wage jobs. The recovery lost 19,000 more high-wage jobs, and lost another 16,000 mid-wage jobs. Gained in "recovery" was 86,000 jobs paying less than $10/hour... Walker is taking credit for the body-count only, won't mention the severe pay-cut.

POLL

Sign up to receive the latest from ShepherdExpress.com and win free tickets to area events!

Email Lists

Arts & Entertainment

Ticket Tuesday

News and Views

Week in Review

Dining

Deals and Promotions

Shepherd Events

Email Address

By submitting this form, you are granting: The Shepherd Express, 207 E. Buffalo St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53202, United States, http://shepherdexpress.com permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.